Finding Time
by VonSchweetz
Summary: I guess it might have been stupid for me to expect ol' Stinkbrain to come see me so soon after what happened. I mean I know he had his own game to play, to be apart of; we all do. VanellopeXRalph Friendship/Hurt-Comfort. Possible Relationship in later chapters.
1. Chapter 1

'_**Finding Time.'  
'In love with Wreck-It Ralph at the moment, and still tinkering with fanfiction related to it, this isn't planned out, and is coming to me as I write it. Make sure to read and review, and let me know if you want me to continue writing. **_

_Vanellope_

I guess it might have been stupid for me to expect ol' Stinkbrain to come see me all the time. I mean I know he had his own game to play, to be apart of; we all do. I 'spose seeing him across the room everyday being thrown off the building was better than nothing y'know. I just hadn't really seen him since he last left Sugar Rush. I hadn't attempted to go see him since he left, and it'd been a month already. I 'spose I thought he'd come see me first. Maybe he was just busy; or not wanting to cause any more trouble, so was staying put in his own game for a while. But it was starting to get to me… Y'know? Had I done something wrong?

I mean the last time I saw Ralph, it wasn't as if anything weird happened, we just said goodbye. I called him names; he called me names, nothing out of the ordinary… Was it? I couldn't stop thinking about it though, had I said something that hurt him? No… Of course I didn't. I hadn't called him anything bad. You know, it was just the usual Stinkbrain insult, nothing he couldn't handle, especially Ralph. Or at least I imagine he'd be able to handle it. It'd just become part of my routine though, hiding from those who tormented me, throwing insults back and forward. Maybe I shouldn't have said anything like that to Ralph, maybe I went too far.

_  
_Ralph_  
It'd been a blast the past few days, I finally had everything I dreamed of, everyone was nice to me now, and I finally felt at home, like I belonged somewhere. Even Gene was more welcoming than usual, but it wasn't ever like we were going to become the best of friends anyway. But at least I had a house of my own now, rather than living in the dump, filled with bricks every night after closing time. I had a fireplace, working lights, I can actually sleep on a bed now, It was one that Felix put together for me only a few hours back. It was nice to know that they actually cared.

I tell you though; I'd been so busy. I hadn't walked past a single person who didn't congratulate me. I actually felt like a hero, even though I know I'm not. I'm bad, and that's good… I was reminded by that everyday, when the townspeople lifted me up, to throw me off the building, into the mud. My eyes always ended up locked with the one who changed my life, just as I had changed hers. I'd been meaning to see her again for weeks now, but things kept getting in the way. Whether it was being invited to tappers for a few drinks, or helping the townspeople break down bricks for parts of furniture. It was a never-ending cycle, and to be honest, I almost felt like the days were getting shorter.

It wasn't until I set off to go to bed, with only six hours until we opened up again, that I heard the knock on my door. I grumbled loudly, I'd literally only just got comfortable, but then again, that really wasn't difficult for me, after sleeping on bricks for thirty years of your life, the comfort of a bed really is enough. But you know, out of everything I was expecting to find when I opened that door, from Felix asking for a favour, to Gene demanding that I help Felix build a few more houses, but out of all the scenarios in my head, I never expected to see a teary Vanellope standing in my doorway.

_Vanellope_

I didn't know what I was gonna say when he opened the door. But I had to think of something. I'd say sorry. Yeah, that'd be fine. I'd say sorry for everything I'd done wrong. All the names I'd called him! But as I reached out to knock on the door… It hit me, maybe he didn't want to see me. It wasn't long until the tears started flowing down my face. I stuttered, my glitching taking hold of my body. I still occasionally glitched, sometimes uncontrollably, it just happened. It was only bad if I got upset, like now. I knocked firmly on Ralph's door, and started to wipe away my tears as he answered.

He looked at me confused for a few seconds, before I jumped, and hugged his leg firmly. He looked like he didn't know what to say. But within a few seconds he'd already pulled me inside, and propped me gently on his giant oversized bed. It almost made me giggle because of how large it was.

"Why are you crying Vanellope?" he asked softly, looking into my eyes, confused. I couldn't help it, and gave out a little sniff.

"I'm sorry for calling you names, and I know I've been a bad friend." I cried out sadly. I didn't want him to hate me. I kept my eyes locked with his, and was pleased to see he was smiling.

"Is that what's bothering you President Fart-feathers? You of all people should know by now that I can handle a few insults every now and then." I let out a smile too, and wiped away all of my tears, letting out a tremendous grin. "I thought you were angry with me, and didn't want to see me anymore… I didn't want to lose my only friend." Ralph looked confused; he looked at me for a moment, before pulling me into a proper embrace. We stayed like that for a few moments before I let out a gagging noise, indicating that his body odour was starting to clog up my senses. Ralph just laughed, as he always did. He dropped me to the floor, and let out a hearty laugh.  
"I promise we'll always be friends Vanellope." I eyed him up, before pulling my arm out, grinning widely.  
"Shake on it?"  
"Shake on it." He laughed, grabbing my hand and delicately motioning up and down, just as we did when we partnered up. I hadn't been this happy since I'd last seen him.

_Ralph  
_I almost asked Vanellope if she wanted to stay over in 'Fix-It Felix' for the night, it was late, but she decided she'd better run back to her game before the day rolled in. She asked if I wanted to visit her tomorrow, and made me promise we'd see each other at least a few times a week. I closed the door after her, and made my way back to my bed. I was just getting settled once again, when I heard it.


	2. Chapter 2

_Ralph_

It was a bang, like an explosion of fireworks… But there weren't meant to be any fireworks. I was pretty sure it wasn't anyone's anniversary tonight, heh, not like last time. I popped my head outside my house, and grabbed the door gently on my way out, no use, it fell straight off the second I touched it. But that was soon forgotten. I stumbled out into the street where the new'uns now lived.

I wasn't the only one seeing what the commotion was; a lot of others were attempting to spy an eye too. Cuburt was stumbling around, attempting to communicate. 'Shame no one expect Felix really understands him properly. He hurried to me, with binoculars wrapped around his long overgrown nose. I glanced at him curiously, before taking them from him and peering into the distance. The penthouse was fine, no fires… No fireworks, I wasn't quite sure what could be wrong until I saw the black smoke coming from the tunnel where the small train transported to… Game Central! It hit me like a ton of bricks, not literally of course, but I raced forward as fast as my legs would carry me.

"Vanellope!" I was shouting as loud as I could, my feet pounding the ground beneath me, leaving oversized footprints behind me. "Vanellope! Are you okay?"

My heart sank when I saw the state of the tunnel, terrible images flashing through my head, her squashed under those bricks, afraid, scared. But it was then that I heard it, her voice, squeaking my name over and over.  
_  
Vanellope  
_I don't even remember much of what happened after I left Ralph. I was just happy, y'know? I actually started skipping my way back to the small station, ready to go to bed before the arcade opened when it happened. I didn't even see it, just one second I was in the cart, slowly setting off and the next WHAM. I was under a tunnel, which was slowly collapsing. It must have been at least five minutes before anyone came to help. I remember just laying there, trying to think. I wasn't scared, Ralph was nearby, and he would save me. Ralph. Heh, he really was my hero. And I loved him, yep. I was almost scared he might have gone to sleep, but then I heard it. His voice. He was shouting my name! He was here!

"Ralph!" I screamed, as loud as I could manage, my lungs almost giving in from the huge amount of rubble around me. I shouted again, and again, until suddenly a bright flash of light flooded my eyes, and there we was, he freed my almost imminently, but then again what else could you expect from his humungous hands? Heh, But I was glad. He lifted me up and carried me back to the new neighborhood.  
"I don't understand what's gone on, that shouldn't happen. We'll go find Felix, he'll be able to fix it." he gulped, but I sniffed in frustration when I realized that I'd seen Felix in Game Central just before I arrived; he waved as he passed me, before heading off to Hero's Duty. But… If Felix was on the other side who was going to fix the tunnel? I told Ralph that Felix wasn't here and I'd past him when I came here before, and he just looked dumbfounded. We'd need to sort this out before opening time.

We didn't. I knew Sugar Rush would be fine for a few days, they did fine without me before, and they all knew how to race. But Fix-It Felix however was a completely different story, without Felix, Ralph told me there'd be no way for the game to work as intended. Ralph was sure Felix would be able to fix the tunnel somehow; maybe he could fix it from the other side. But Ralph was just glad I wasn't hurt, not badly, only a few scratches, and he'd soon fixed them up for me. And it wasn't long until I was covered up in small bandages and snuggled up in his house.

"You'll have to stay here for now Kid, at least until Felix comes back to fix the tunnel. Still don't understand exactly what happened though, can you remember why the tunnel collapsed?" No. I couldn't, not at all, it was such a blur, one second I was fine, the next I was crushed against the floor by a bunch of rocks. Bah, I was just so lucky Ralph came to my rescue, but I didn't tell him that... He probably knew anyway!

Ralph went to stand up, and stepped to the door, when he stopped and looked at me.

"Please don't go." I stammered, looking up at him, "Stay here, I really don't wanna be here alone after what happened, you know?" He smiled, and sat down next to me. "Thanks Stinkbrain." I smiled, before curling up next to him. Ralph just smiled, and fell asleep within a few minutes, and you know, as I lay next to him, I managed to fall asleep faster than I had in a long time.

_Ralph_

Everyone was scrambling about when I woke up, wondering what to do. Decided I'd head on up to my starting position, and we'd try work something out. But as I stood there and waited, and waited, and waited, nothing happened. The lights to the arcade didn't come on. And everyone anxious, I decided to take Vanellope up to the top of the Penthouse with me, so we could get a better look at Sugar Rush. We could see all the characters, they were all lined up, waiting for a race, and all seemed just as confused as we did. I peered into the few other games that were visible, and those characters looked dumbfounded too. Maybe Litwak was ill, and wasn't opening up today? In any case though, this was good news with what had happened already.  
"Wonder why the arcade hasn't opened up yet." Said Vanellope, as she dangled from my shoulder, squinting to make out anything from beyond the screen of glass.  
"No idea kid, Litwak's probably ill or something, it's not like it hasn't happened before." Vanellope seemed to shrug at that, which was when I remembered, of course she wouldn't know. Vanellope had never been active in game when Litwak wasn't here; everyday had been a struggle for her up until he came along, she just wanted to race, and probably didn't know if the arcade was open or not, it wasn't like there was a night time in Sugar Rush.  
"Ah well, come on Ralph, ol' buddy ol' pal, let's find something to do, don't want you getting bored now do we?" she laughed, glitching down from my arm, and jumping to my feet. I just laughed and picked her up, jumping down from the building, and landing with a splat in the mud. "You're right Vanellope, come on, let's make the most of our day off."


End file.
